In 1942, Executive Order 9066 required all people of Japanese Ancestry to move to incarceration camps. The hardships from the forced relocation endured well after their return from the camps. After being uprooted from their homes, Japanese Americans had to rebuild. Many moved to the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles where the built a thriving community with Japanese owned businesses and organizations that provided social services, educated Asian youth, and fought for their civil rights.
The following images illustrate the sustained resilience of the Japanese American community.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted Executive Order 9066 requiring people of Japanese ancestry to move to incarceration camps. This photo from May 8, 1942, shows the last contingent of evacuees leaving Little Tokyo to go to Santa Anita Race Track, bringing the total number of evacuees in the district to 25,000. | Herald Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library
After being forced to leave their homes and uproot their families, Japanese Americans had to rebuild their lives when they returned from incarceration. Many ended up in temporary government-sponsored trailer installations such as this photo from 1946, where they still had to pay rent while under inadequate living conditions. | Japanese American National Museum/Gift of Ronnie Macias and Raey Hirata
At a time when civil rights were being threatened across disenfranchised communities, people banded together to fight the injustice of incarceration and support Japanese Americans. Here, Josephine Baker and another woman, organize a clothing drive for Japanese American babies in Los Angeles, June 1952. | Japanese American National Museum/Photograph by Toyo Miyatake Studio/Gift of the Alan Miyatake Family
After World War II, Crenshaw had the largest population of Japanese Americans in the United States. Japanese businesses thrived, like Grace Pastries Shoppe. If your birthday was coming up, it was only right that the cake would be from the community staple, Grace Pastries. Photo from October 30, 1963. | Japanese American National Museum/Photograph by Toyo Miyatake Studio/Gift of the Alan Miyatake Family
The neighborhood hot spot in Crenshaw was the Holiday Bowl... even if you didn’t bowl. The Crenshaw community gathered there to watch bowling tournaments, for coffee, birthday parties, or just to hang out with friends. | Japanese American National Museum/Gift of Dusty Mizunoue
In the ‘70s, the population at Dorsey High School was reflective of the Crenshaw community they lived in. Japanese American activists learned from their neighbors and from groups like the Black Panthers; their individual fights against oppression shared the same goal to uplift their community and uphold their freedoms. The youth played an instrumental role in catalyzing the Asian American movement. | Visual Communications Photographic Archive
Protesting in large numbers across Los Angeles, Asian Americans fought for the well-being of their community. Their individual voices amplified as they marched together to uphold their civil rights and protest the Vietnam War. Pictured here is a person advocating for social services in their community at the Anti-Vietnam War March and Rally, Westlake/MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, May 2, 1971. | Visual Communications Photographic Archive/Photograph by Ed Ikuta
Being centrally located in the community,Crenshaw Square was a hub for community gatherings, such as this Community Pancake Breakfast at Crenshaw Square, April 19, 1969. Japanese Americans organized fairs, lunch-ins and community events for everyone in Crenshaw to participate. | Visual Communications Photographic Archive/Photograph by Robert A. Nakamura
The Public Education system was not adequately teaching Asian Youth of their community’s history so the Yellow Brotherhood organization took it upon themselves. Every year, the Yellow Brotherhood organization sponsored a pilgrimage to Manzanar, one of ten of America’s Concentration Camps for Japanese Americans. The pilgrimage educated Asian youth of the oppression and racism their parents and grandparents faced along with their sustained resistance and resilience. | Courtesy of Nick Nagatani/Victor Shibata Collection
The Yellow Brotherhood fostered a space for actionable change. In addition to educational outings and community wellness events, YB was devoted to uplifting their community in all aspects. This photo was taken at a Yellow Brotherhood community meeting at a neighborhood high school, L.A. High. Here, the Yellow Brotherhood membership confronted the school administrators on issues regarding the need for relevant education like Asian American and African American study classes, poor food quality and service and anything else that was on the youth’s mind. | Courtesy of Nick Nagatani/Victor Shibata Collection
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